Nano cash may end Tata's funding woes; bookings open till 25 April news

09 April 2009

Booking for Tata Nano, which got off to a brisk start in Mumbai today with a steady stream of customers queing up at booking centres, will continue up to the end of day on 25 April, Tata Motors said in a release.

Going by the current customer interest, Tata Motors looks set to raise enough money for repaying its last year's bridge loans rised for the acquisition of the luxury Jaguar and Land Rover brands from Ford .

Booking amount for the first batch of 1,00,000 cars alone will garner as much as $1 billion in a three-month deposit to Tata Motors, potentially giving it $200 million against delivery -- which may take up to a year or more.

Application forms are available at a price of Rs300 (for online booking Rs200). The forms can be bought at over 30,000 locations in about 1,000 cities through Tata Motors passenger car dealerships, State Bank of India and its branches, its subsidiaries and associates, other preferred financiers, and outlets of Westside, Croma, World of Titan and Tata Indicom exclusive stores. The forms come with a range of offers from select associate Tata group companies up to Rs1,100.

Tata Motors has entered into agreements with 18 preferred banks / NBFCs to enable prospective customers to get finance and facilitate booking of the car.

The sale of application forms has already started from 1 April. The Tata Nano website has recorded over 50 million hits, including over 20 million hits in the fortnight since the launch on 23 March 2009.

The company's partnership with the preferred financing partners has enabled attractive options of financing the booking amount, which start from a low of Rs2,850. The details are as follows:

Preferred banks / NBFCs banks

Financing of booking amount of Rs95,000 for the Tata Nano Std version

State Bank of India

Rs2,999

Canara Bank

Rs2,850

Tata Motor Finance

Rs3,199

Corporation Bank

Rs2,999

Central Bank of India

Rs3,256

Indian bank

Rs3,343

State Bank of Tranvancore

Rs2,999

State Bank of Bikaner and Jaipur

Rs2,999

State Bank of Indore

Rs3,516

State Bank of Patiala

Rs2,999

State Bank of Hyderabad

Rs2,999

State Bank of Mysore

Rs2,999

ICICI Bank

Rs2,999

Union Bank of India

Rs2,950

United Bank of India

Rs3,137

Punjab National Bank

Rs3,733

UCO Bank

Rs2,975

The Federal Bank

Rs4,110

Customers can submit their application forms to their chosen financier. The financier will, on their behalf, submit their application forms to the State Bank of India, which is managing the booking process. Those who are themselves paying the entire booking amount can submit their application forms directly to State Bank of India through 1,350 notified branches in 850 cites, and also at Tata Motors passenger car dealerships, Westside and Croma outlets. Option to submit bookings online is available at www.tatanano.com.

Post allotment, customers can convert their booking loan into a retail auto loan for the Tata Nano at very attractive rates with the preferred financiers:

Preferred banks / NBFCs

Interest rates post allotment

State Bank of India

11.75%

Canara Bank

9.5-11%

Tata Motor Finance

12–13%

Corporation Bank

11-11.5%

Central Bank of India

9.5-11%

Indian bank

11%

State Bank of Tranvancore

11.75-12%

State Bank of Bikaner and Jaipur

11.75%

State Bank of Indore

11.50%

State Bank of Patiala

11.50–12%

State Bank of Hyderabad

11.75%

State Bank of Mysore

11.25-11.75%

ICICI Bank

13.00%

Union Bank of India

11-11.25%

United Bank of India

9%

Punjab National Bank

11%

UCO Bank

11–11.50%

The Federal Bank

14.25%

Tata Motors has also entered into agreements with five partner insurance companies to offer comprehensive insurance, under the 'Tata Motors Insurance' banner, for the Tata Nano at a rate of just 2.76 per cent of the ex-showroom price of the car. In New Delhi, the insurance premiums will be as follows:

Nano

Nano CX

Nano LX

Ex-showroom price, New Delhi (Rs)

1,23,360

1,48,360

1,72,360

Insurance premium (Rs)

3,468

3,959

4,431

The empanelled insurance companies are National Insurance Co, ICICI Lombard General Insurance Co, Royal Sundaram Alliance General Insurance Co, United India Insurance Co and HDFC Ergo General Insurance.

Deliveries will start within 60 days of the closure of bookings on 25 April 2009, Tata Motors will allot 100,000 cars in the first phase of deliveries, through a computerised random selection procedure. These 100,000 allotments will be price protected for the launch prices till delivery of the cars but the booking amounts will not bear any interest for the customers. Deliveries will commence from July 2009.

Applicants have the option to retain their booking deposit, even if they do not get allotment in the first phase. Those who choose this option will be eligible for interest on their deposit, effective from the date of announcement of allotment of the second phase, at a rate of 8.5 per cent for retention period between one year to two years and 8.75 per cent for a retention period of more than 2 years. Allotment of retainees will be simultaneously communicated, along with the allotment of the first 100,000 cars.